Life’s become a tad comfortable for more Indians with electricity, clean cooking fuel, toilets and improved drinking water reaching more homes than before, but improved infrastructure does not find a reflection in improved health. There was a slight fall in the number of women with anaemia — from 55.2% in 2005-06 to 53.1%. The number of underweight women fell by close to 13%, while those who are overweight and obese have risen sharply. However, children’s health is not getting better — though the number of underweight children has gone down marginally, stunting has risen over the past decade. “Policies such as smoke-free rules, 85% graphic warnings and gutka ban helped, but the work is half done,” said Bhavna Mukhopadhyay, chief executive of Voluntary Health Association of India.

Source: Hindustan Times March 01, 2017 19:23 UTC